---
title: "What is a model provider?"
description: "A model provider is the API that serves an embedding, a transcription, a vision model, or a chat model a column can call."
url: "https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-model-provider"
updated: "2026-09-29"
vertical: "Orchestration"
doc: "https://docs.pixeltable.com/overview/quick-start"
---

# What is a model provider?

A model provider is the API that serves an embedding, a transcription, a vision model, or a chat model a column can call.

Updated: 2026-09-29
Part of [What is an AI function?](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-an-ai-function).

## On this page

- [How it works](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-model-provider#how-it-works)
- [What it is not](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-model-provider#what-it-is-not)
- [Comparison](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-model-provider#comparison)
- [Where Pixeltable fits](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-model-provider#where-pixeltable-fits)
- [Questions](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-model-provider#questions)

## How it works {#how-it-works}


- You pick a model and pass a key.
- A computed column calls it.
- The output is stored on the row, so you can swap the model by changing the expression.

## What it is not {#what-it-is-not}

It is not the database that stores the result, and it is not the only provider you are allowed to call.

## model provider: this, and the thing it is confused with {#comparison}

|  | This | Not this |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sells | Model calls | Table storage |
| Swap | Change the expression | Move the bytes |
| Examples | Hosted chat, speech, and image models | The catalog |

## Where Pixeltable fits {#where-pixeltable-fits}

Pixeltable calls providers from computed columns. OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Groq, Mistral, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock, Hugging Face, and Replicate are functions, not a second database.

## Questions {#questions}

### How does model provider work? {#faq-1}

You pick a model and pass a key. A computed column calls it. The output is stored on the row, so you can swap the model by changing the expression.

### What is model provider often confused with? {#faq-2}

It is not the database that stores the result, and it is not the only provider you are allowed to call.

## In the blog

- [vLLM: High-Throughput Local LLM Inference in Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/vllm-high-throughput-local-inference-pixeltable)
- [Creative Image Generation with Pixeltable's Reve Integration](https://pixeltable.com/blog/reve-image-generation-pixeltable)
- [DeepSeek: Advanced Reasoning and Code Generation with DeepSeek-V3 in Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/deepseek-reasoning-code-pixeltable)
- [OpenRouter: Unified Access to 100+ LLMs from Claude, GPT-4, Llama, and More in Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/openrouter-multi-provider-pixeltable)
- [Replicate: Access Thousands of ML Models for LLMs, Images, and Audio in Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/replicate-model-marketplace-pixeltable)
- [AWS Bedrock: Enterprise AI with Claude, Llama, and Amazon Nova in Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/aws-bedrock-enterprise-ai-pixeltable)

## Related

- [Documentation](https://docs.pixeltable.com/overview/quick-start)
- [Multi-Provider AI Strategy: OpenAI vs Claude vs Groq vs Deepseek vs Gemini vs Bedrock Comparison](https://pixeltable.com/blog/multi-provider-ai-strategy-comparison-guide)
- [Unleash Google's Multimodal AI Power with Pixeltable's Gemini Integration](https://pixeltable.com/blog/working-with-gemini)
- [OpenAI GPT-4o: Complete Multimodal AI Integration with Vision, Audio, and Embeddings in Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/openai-gpt4-multimodal-integration-pixeltable)